The Surprise Job
by leveragus
Summary: One day the team finds a little surprise outside the HQ's door.How will it affect Nate? But mostly, who left it?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N. This is a new story. I wrote the first 2 chapters a long time ago and I've finally decided to finish it. Since I'm writing a bunch of other fics at the same time I don't think the updates will be regular, sorry :( **

**It's set after the Scheherazade Job.**

**The Surprise Job.**

Nate entered his apartment breathless. He quickly took off his T-shirt drenched with sweat and threw it across the room where it landed on top of the sitting room sofa.

Still listening to the music from his Mp3 player he went to the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"Orange soda, orange soda, orange soda" he mumbled " I can't believe it! Is there any water?"

He finally found a small bottle stuck at the back. He turned around and bumped into someone.

He soon recognized her perfume, a sweet fragrant that often kept him awake at night.

"Sophie, you've nearly made me jump!" He took off his earphones "What are you doing here so early?"

Sophie stood there shocked. In front of her was a shirtless Nate. He was wearing only a pair of shorts, socks and trainers. His hair was wet because of the sweat and she was so close to him that she could almost taste his salty skin.

'_God, he's sexy!'_ she thought. She hadn't realized she was openly admiring him until she heard him calling her name again.

"Hmm?" she was speechless.

Nate smirked, perfectly knowing the effect he was having on her.

"I asked why you were here so early"

Sophie quickly recovered. " I was hoping to actually get to eat your breakfast. This time without interruptions."

"As you can see, I'm not in the right state to cook. You'll have to wait for me to have a shower first."

"I can see that." Still admiring his body. "Where have you been?"

"I went for a run". He drank from the water bottle.

"Since when do you go jogging?" she asked surprised.

"Well, in prison I started doing some exercise and I wanted to continue. You know, stay fit."

"It's certainly working" she noticed his firm abdominals.

Nate blushed at her flirty smile. Then her look changed, from a playful one to a more serious one. He felt her fingers delicately trace his latest scar sending chills up his spine.

"Is this from when you were shot on the Maltese Falcon?" She can still remember that day like it was yesterday. His desperate call. His words. The ones she so longed to hear. And then his crazy decision to get himself arrest to save the rest of them.

"Hmm.. yeah. At least that time I got treated in a hospital. It wasn't as bad as it looks." He tried to reassure her "The scar it's still a bit fresh. Soon you won't even notice, like this one" He pointed at the gunshot wound he got during their scam in a bank.

"I still can't believe it that during our goodbyes you were bleeding to death" she was slightly angry. If at the time they had known his was injured, they would have tried to rescue him a lot sooner.

"I bet that now you regret slapping me" He joked.

She smirked. "Oh no, you deserved that slap!"

They stood there smiling looking into each other eyes.

Nate shook his head. "Well, I'll better go have that shower or no breakfast."

The moment was gone. " Ok, I'll wait here for you"

"You could start helping with something, you know" came his voice from upstairs.

"Where's the fun in that!" she smiled.

Fifteen minutes later he came back down wearing a pair of jeans and a white shirt still undone.

Sophie looked surprised. 'He's really enjoying this half naked look' she thought. 'Not that I'm complaining'

"Ok let's start" he clapped his hands "What would you like, madam?"

She tilted her head "Hmm.. let me think"

"I've been gone for nearly 20 minutes! You could have at least thought of something"

"Pancakes!"

"Pancakes?"

She nodded. "Or are they too difficult for the chef?" she challenged.

"No, no. Pancakes it is. What flavour?"

"Surprise me"

"But I'm doing everything on my own. You've got to help"

So they started cooking, laughing and joking. Occasionally their hands touched and they would look at each other embarrassed. Sophie slipped on some flour on spilt on the floor.

"Careful" Nate quickly but his arms around her. They stood still. Their lips just inches apart.

That's how the rest of the team found them when they entered the apartment.

"Hmm… are we interrupting something?" asked Eliot smirking.

Yes! They wanted to shout. But like teenagers being caught by their parents they immediately separated.

"No no" said Nathan. "We were just cooking breakfast"

"Do I smell pancakes?" Hardison sniffed the air.

"Yes, there's plenty for everyone." Nate took the plate full of pancakes on the table.

"Wow" Parker noticed the undone shirt. She went closer to Sophie who was still blushing near the kitchen counter. "Are you sure we didn't interrupt anything?" She whispered to the other female.

"Unfortunately no" she sighed.

"Nice chest." Parker admired.

"I know! And before he was even shirtless." She moan thinking about his skin under her fingertips "I was going to let him suffer a bit more, but if he keeps teasing me with his body and flirting I don't know how much longer I can still resist."

"Just surrender!"

Parker went to join the others. "Hey Nate, nice abs!" she shouted smiling.

Nate looked down confused. Shocked he quickly started butting up his shirt. "Hmm.. let's eat" he blushed.

The team of thieves enjoyed the cooked breakfast.

Suddenly "Can you hear that?" asked Eliot.

The others stop talking. Nothing

"Hear what?"

Then a cry. "That!"

The crying continued "It's coming from outside"

Hardison quickly went to open the door followed by Parker and Eliot.

What was waiting outside surprised them.

"Is that what I think it is ?" asked Parker.

Lying down in a baby carrier was a year old baby boy. He looked up and gurgled.

"Ehm.. Nate, is there anything you would like to tell us?" Hardison l glare back at the older man.


	2. Chapter 2

**_"Ehm.. Nate, is there anything you would like to tell us?" Hardison l glare back at the older man._**

"What is it?" asked Sophie curiously.

"A baby" Parker answered still looking at the "alien" strangely.

Everyone turned their heads towards the Mastermind.

"Hey, what makes you think it's mine?" he defended himself.

"Hmm… your apartment?" replied Eliot.

"Our headquarters" he replied back. He went closer to the baby who started crying again. He quickly picked him up and bounced around trying to calm him. "Hey, there buddy!" he shushed. The baby's cries soon stopped.

"Well, it's definitively not mine." said Hardison.

"And not mine" added Eliot. "Well, could be. But nobody I know knows about this place."

"Can I keep him?" asked Parker.

"No" they all replied. Parker pouted.

"Well, obviously someone left him for a reason. We just have to find who and why" Sophie went next to Nate and tickled the baby who started giggling.

"Ok, Parker, is there anything with the baby carrier?" asked Nathan.

"Nope, just him"

"Okay, we're going to need some baby stuff."He turned towards his team members. "Eliot, Parker, you go shopping for some diapers, baby food and clothes"

"Cool" Parker exclaimed enthusiastically going outside the apartment.

"Eliot" called Nate "please, keep an eye on her"

The hitter nodded and followed the thief.

"I'm going to check who left us this little present" said Alec Hardison already starting working on his computer.

"How are you going to do that?"asked Sophie.

"Well, since our last uninvited visitors, mainly a sexy mysterious Italian woman, I've installed security camera in difference parts of the building."

"Sexy?" inquired Sophie.

"Well, she might be blackmailing us, but she certainly is a beautiful woman" smirked Alec.

"Oh yes" agreed Nate "One sexy appealing conning woman. She even asked me out once." He looked at the now sleeping baby in his arms. "What have you got Hardison?"

"Hey, wait a second!" Sophie looked at him in disbelieve "She's asked you out?" A tingle of jealousy in her voice.

"Yeah, when I saw her during the Scheherazade Job." He looked at the video monitor.

"Why didn't I know about it?" she kept inquiring arms folded.

"Because it wasn't a big deal. I told her no, end of the story."

"Guys, if you're finished with your lover's banter, I've got some footage you might want to see."

Nate glared at him. "Roll it"

On the video monitors they saw a young woman carrying the baby carrier and leaving it in front of the door. She kept looking behind her, a scared look on her face.

"She is obviously running away from someone" Sophie pointed out.

"Hardison, can you find anything else?"

"No boss, if someone was chasing her they've never showed on cameras. I can run a facial recognition on her, see if she on the record somewhere, it will take time though."

"You do that" ordered the mastermind " In the meanwhile we must find out how she knew about us."

"It could just be a coincidence that she has left the baby to us" suggested the grifter.

"No," Nate shook his head. "She went past different doors but she stopped at ours, she was looking for us. She needed our help, and we're going to give it t her. And for now the only help we can provide is to look after Junior here." He smiled at the still sleeping baby in his arms. It was a sad smile though, memories of his lost son kept flouting his mind. He gently put Junior in his carrier and covered him with a blanket.

"Junior?" Sophie smiled. There was nothing sexier than the sight of the man you loved taking care of a child.

"Well, we can't keep calling him baby, and since we don't have a name yet, Junior has to do for now"

Half an hour past with Nate, Sophie and Hardison looking for clues of that woman. The facial recognition came out with nothing so they still had no name. They discovered that it was Cora, down at the bar, that gave her their apartment number, but she didn't know who she was. So they were still stuck.

"I need a break" a frustrated Nate went to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.

"Man, it's difficult to buy for a kid" Eliot came inside the apartment, his hands full of bags. He was followed by Parker who had as twice as many bags.

"Did you buy the all store?" asked a shocked Hardison.

"You have no idea how much stuff there was." He collapsed on the sofa. "It was a nightmare"

"I had fun" replied Parker dropping the bags.

"Please tell me you've paid for all this stuff and you haven't stolen it" Nate was worried.

"I've paid… some of it"

Nathan sighed and sipped his coffee.

"Hey, what's this smell?" Alec sniffed the air going closer to Eliot.

"Hey man, it's not me" he pushed him away disgusted. "It comes from the little monster there" He pointed at the baby who woke up crying.

"Somebody needs his diaper changed and a better diet. Man, this smell is disgusting"

The boys looked at Sophie.

"What? Just because I'm a woman you think I can change a diaper?" she asked exasperated.

The baby continued crying.

"Could someone do something?" shouted Eliot over the cries.

"Four of you and no one can take care of a baby?" Nate picked up Junior who quieted down a bit and took him upstairs to the main bathroom. "Parker, bring me a diaper, some wipes, baby powder and a change of clothes"

Parker looked confused.

"I'll do it" Sophie looked through the bags and picked out the necessary things and went to Nate. "You could order dinner"

"That I can do!"

"Hey there. I think someone needs a bath too. Let's get you all cleaned up and smelling good."

Sophie heard the baby giggles. She hid behind the bathroom doorway and observed the scene before her.

Nate ran some water in the bath. "You know," he laid Junior inside the tube "we boys have to always look good for the girls. It's important that you learn this lesson soon. If you look good and be a gentleman, the girls will drop at you feet." The baby played with some froth not really paying attention to his words. Nate poured him some water and washed him "That's all it takes, good manners and charm. And I know something about it, you know, I had my fair share of girlfriends. So…" He lift the baby out of the tube and wrapped a big fluffy towel around him. Sophie smiled still hiding. "That's why we always must be clean. Now, where is Parker with your new clothes?" He looked behind him and saw Sophie leaning against the door.

"How long have you been standing there?"

Sophie smiled and slowly walked towards them and caressed Junior's head. "Enough to know that you always look good for the ladies. Is that why you always put on a lot of aftershave?" She teased him. "Precisely, how many girlfriends did you have?"

"Some, not that many" He put on Junior a clean diaper and a new outfit. "Here we are, all set"

"You're good with him" They were again standing close to each other.

"Well, I really don't have a choice. It's not like any of you have babysitting on your résumé." He quietly looked at the baby who was fascinated with Sophie's hair and was playing with her locks.

"It's hard, Soph. Everything he does, everything I do it reminds me of Sam, of when he was this little. I don't know how much more I can resist before I'll drown my memories in a bottle of whiskey."

Sophie was a bit taken aback with his honesty. She put her arms around him in an awkward hug with the baby between them. "I know Nate, I know. But you're not alone. I'm here for you, whenever you think it's too much to take."

She lifted her head I looked straight into his eyes, their lips barely touching. Twice they've found themselves in this situation that day, maybe faith was telling them something and who were they to ignore it?

Nate closed in and gently careless her lips. Sophie responded in kind and kissed him back but before they could enjoy their kiss, Junior slapped them both with his chubby hands not happy about being ignored and squashed.

They nervously laughed. "I think someone here might be hungry. I'm a bit famished too"

"I think the others have order something. It might be…"

"Guys, food's here" came Hardison's shout from downstairs.

"..here" finished Sophie.

"Okay, let's go" Nate was leaving the room when a hand on his arm stopped him.

"We'll continue our… thing… later, won't we?" asked Sophie self-consciously, but she wasn't going to ignore their feelings any longer.

Nate smiled and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "You can count on it"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N This is chapter is shorter that I thought but you will understand why at the end. Hope you like it!**

_Nate smiled and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "You can count on it"_

Nate and Sophie went downstairs with Junior giggling happily in Nate's arms.

"Oh good, you're here!" Hardison took a big piece of pizza from the box. It looked like it had any imaginable topping on it. "The pizza is getting cold, but Eliot insisted that we waited for you, I don't know why" he shrugged.

Eliot slapped him at the back of his head "I meant to wait that they were sitting at the table because that's what civilized people do!" and Hardison spat the bite he just took. He frowned disgusted. "Really?"

Sophie chuckled at their antics. "You can go ahead and start eating, Hardison"

"Told you they wouldn't mind" and he picked up the previous spitted bite and throw it in his mouth.

"Oh, that's disgusting!" Eliot shouted. "I've nearly lost my appetite!"

"Good, more pizza for me!"

While the "children" were bickering, Nate put Junior in his carrier who wasn't too happy about it, but he had to go and prepare his bottle.

Sophie walked closer to the carrier and she stroked the baby's head."Shh, he will be back soon"

Junior turned his head and looked curiously at the woman and for a moment their eyes met. Sophie realized that was the first time that her and the baby were left alone and she started getting nervous about it. She rarely had any interaction with kids, let alone babies. But his cute chubby face and his small smile gave her comfort and when Junior lifted his arms telling her to pick him up she easily lifted him in her arms.

Junior smiled and patted her cheeks with his chubby hands.

"Don't you worry, Uncle Nate is just preparing you dinner. He will be back soon!"

Nate watched them from the kitchen counter and smiled at the scene, he couldn't help it! She was a vision! He just loved how her smile blighted up when Junior nearly poked her eyes or how delicately her hand ran through his brown curls.

The beeping from the microwave startled him and reluctantly he had to turn around. He picked the bottle and after checking the temperature he went towards them.

"Do you want to give it to him?" he softly asked her.

Sophie shook her head panicking. "Oh, I wouldn't know where to start!"

"I will show you. Come!"

He led her to the sofa and they sat next to each other, hips to hips.

Junior sat on Sophie's lap and his hands were already reaching for the bottle.

"Here" Nate put the bottle's nipple next to his mouth and Junior soon started drinking the warm milk. "Hold this end" He said to Sophie who did what he showed her. "That's it. He's big enough to hold the bottle on his own, you've just got to help him"

"That's all?" She asked incredulously.

"That's all! Don't worry, you're doing great" he smiled.

So they sat silently and watched the baby drink.

"This is nice" she whispered.

"Yeah, it is"

Sophie noticed that his eyes were on her more than the baby and she looked up to him, her eyebrow raised.

"Nate?"

"Hmm...?"

"Guys, you know your pizza is cold now, right?" Hardison interrupted them.

"Leave them alone" Parker scolded him. "They're babysitting! Can I babysit too later, I would like to show the baby how to pick a lock!"

"We'll see!" Nate diplomatically replied.

Then a sound came from Hardison's computer. "We've got something!"

The hacker quickly got up from his chair. "A street surveillance camera picked up how mysterious woman a couple of blocks from here. There" he pointed at the screen "She is getting out of a car. I'll ran the plates so we can have a name."

"Here are the men following her." Eliot pointed out.

"How do you know?" Parker asked.

"They are mercenaries."

"Let me guess, " Hardison turned around with a smirk. "They have very distinctive haircuts!"

"No, you idiot. I know one of them. The one on the right is Mike Taylor. He does odd jobs now and then. I haven't seen him for a while."

"What can of mercenary is he?" Nate joined them at the table leaving Sophie with Junior.

"The one that kill if they have to" Eliot seriously added.

"I finally have an ID on our vic. Her name is Sarah Spade. She is an elementary teacher. Her husband was a policeman. He died a couple of months ago in the line of duty. Apparently a robbery gone bad."

"I remember the article" Nate said thinking out loud. "They never clarified what happened that day"

"Well, if the motive is the robbery why go after the wife?" Sophie inquired from the couch. Junior had now finished drinking from the bottle and was starting to fall asleep on her shoulder.

Nate and Eliot exchanged a worried look.

"I don't know. Hardison, find everything there is about Sarah Spade and the robbery. See if there is something suspicious. Eliot…"

"I'll call my contacts and see what the bay guys are up to" he finished for him.

"Right. Parker, go with Eliot."

"Oh," Hardison exclaimed. "Junior's name is Matthew by the way. He is 14 months old."

"Well, it's nice to have finally a name" Sophie smiled at the now sleeping baby. "Nate.." she whispered.

The mastermind smiled. "Let's go put him to bed."

**A/N 2 Okay so I've cut it shorter because I want to make the next scene longer. Sophie and Nate putting a baby to sleep and they still have to talk about the kiss? Of course I want to write pages about it! So you will have to wait for the next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N So here it is! The scenes we were all, I hope, waiting for. Hope it's not a disappointment, I wrote it while I was waiting at the doctor's this afternoon!**_  
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_The mastermind smiled. "Let's go put him to bed."_

"Where are we going to put him? We don't have a crib." Sophie gently passed the sleeping Matthew to Nate. The baby whimpered but Nate smoothed him back to sleep.

"He will have to sleep in the spare bed. The carrier is too uncomfortable for a long sleep. Check in the bags if they bought him a pair of PJs."

Nate went upstairs while Sophie looked through the bags and started putting some things away.

"Look at you being all so motherly." Hardison teased her from his post.

"Shut up" she scolded him blushing.

"Just saying!"

After she got everything away she went up the stairs too. Nate had already set up some cushions going around the edge of the bed and some others on the floor.

"This will keep him safe if the rolls over during the night. Did you find something?"

"Here is a nice pair of PJs" she smiled handing them to him.

"Spiderman? Really? Let me guess, Parker chose them?"

"Probably! There was also a monitor so we can hear him when he wakes up. I bet this was all Eliot doing"

She set it up.

Together they changed Matthew trying not to wake him but failed miserably when the baby started to cry.

"No, no buddy. It's okay." Nate picked him up and bounced him around trying to rock him back to sleep. Matthew quieted down but his eyes were now open.

"You have try to sleep for a bit so we can go back looking for your mommy." Nate talked quietly. The one year old seemed rather engrossed with his voice, so he had an idea.

He laid on the bed and placed the baby on his chest laying him on his stomach. With a nod he mentioned Sophie to lie next to him so she went on the other side of bed and laid down.

"So with which story should I start?" He asked. " Oh, I know, how about when the noble insurance investigator Nathan Ford met the temptress thief Sophie Devereaux."

Sophie cleared her throat "Noble? Oh, this I want to hear all about. Will you get the facts right this time?"

"Ah, ah, very funny. So, Nathan Ford was not new at the insurance business. He made some good recoveries in the U.S. , so his bosses decided that he should spend more time in Europe, famous for its beautiful art and of course thieves. There was one in particular that was causing trouble to IYS, stealing a lot of the insured properties and nobody knew who she was."

Sophie was now running a hand up and down the baby's back.

"Something you should know Matthew is that she was so good that nobody could catch her and when she heard that a new agent was trying to arrest she wasn't all that worried sure that he was going to be another idiot..." she smiled teasingly "…and she was right"

"Hey, this is my story. So the noble Nate Ford went to Prague because that's where a certain painting was going to be exposed in a museum and he was sure that it was going to attract the mysterious thief."

"Like she didn't know there was going to be a trap" she snorted.

"All was set, Nate kept his eyes open waiting for the thief to make its move. What he didn't know was that this was no ordinary thief."

"Ordinary isn't an adjective that I would associated with Sophie Devereaux. More like extraordinary, brilliant, intelligent..."

"Still my story here. So she was no ordinary thief. She had been in the room all along playing what is called a long con. She was a guest at the party organized by the museum and she was wearing a long red dress and..."

"How do you remember what dress I was wearing?" she curiously interrupted him.

"What she didn't know was that unconsciously she had distracted the noble Nate all evening" He looked straight in her eyes. " She was a vision. That long red dressed sculptured her body in all the right places, her dark hair gathered up in a bun and on her long neck there was a beautiful necklace that sparkled in the light, but not as much as her deep brown eyes. He was so mesmerized by her."

Sophie looked down blushing.

"So of course he soon recognized her when at the end of the party he saw her running away in the night with the painting secure under her arm. He later became so obsessed with her and he didn't even know her name His heart leaped when he saw her again two years later."

The room feel in silence.

"That worked, he has gone back to sleep." Sophie whispered and rolled out the bed smoothing her shirt back in place.

"I used to do this with Sam" he sighed. He then got up and the baby was soon comfortable sleeping in bed like an angel.

"He looks so peaceful" Sophie smiled.

"He sure is. He doesn't know that his mother is in danger." Nate whispered a gloomy look in his eyes.

Sophie ran a hand down his arm. "Nate, everything is going to be okay. We will find her."

Nate gave her a sad smile. "Yeah"

She leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips. She knew that probably it wasn't a good idea. They still had to talk about their previous kiss, but it felt so good and she couldn't stop herself, especially after that story.

Nate was at first surprised and it took him a moment to realize what was happening, but he soon responded to the kiss. His tongue brushed her lips asking entrance and which was granted. She ran her right hand over his cheek while the other was sneaked in his brown curls. Nate's hands were busy too, one found its way behind her neck holding her place, while the other one slipped in her lower back and was trying to reach her behind.

When the finally separated, more for lack of oxygen other than anything else, they leaned over each other. Their foreheads touching while thin air was forming between them because of their heavy breathing.

"That was…" Nate tried to speak.

"…amazing" she finished for him.

"Yeah!"

"We should talk about it" she tried to rationalize.

"Don't you know that talking is overrated." And he captured her lips again for another amazing kiss.

This time, after they separated, Sophie put some distance between them.

"Nate" she ran her hands through her hair and started pacing. "we should really talk about… well, us. What are we doing? Are we finally together or is it just temporary? What about the team? Are we going to tell them?"

Nate just stood there and grinned at her rambling. _–Damn, she is sexy-_ he thought.

She suddenly stopped and looked at him. "Well, say something!"

"You're beautiful when you're angry!"

"Nate, seriously!"

He sighed, moved closer to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Sophie, relax. We don't have to figure out everything in one evening. We will just let this… thing make its course. But nothing between us will ever be only temporary." He looked down embarrassed. " I… care for you. More than care, actually"

"I think the word you are looking for, Nate, is love." She teased him.

He blushed. "Yes, that. You know… me… as for the team, we don't have to tell them anything."

"Like Eliot won't notice something the moment he sees us."

"If he does, he won't say anything. Let's finish this job, then we can discuss this somewhere more quietly."

"Are you asking me out on a date?" she flirted.

He smiled back. "Maybe. One step at a time"

She nodded. "One step at a time"

"Okay" He picked up the baby monitor and started going out of the door.

"By the way Nate," she stopped him and he turned around. " I love you too"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Sorry for the long wait, also this is a short chapter. I'm writing two other fics at the same time(that I will soon start publishing) plus there's RL! I'm planning to wrapping up this story soon, maybe there are like 2 or 3 chapters left.**

_"By the way Nate," she stopped him and he turned around. " I love you too"_

Downstairs they found Hardison still working on his laptop.

"Nate, something seems very fishy with this robbery gone bad!" He said typing fast.

"What did you find?"

"First of all Jackson Spade wasn't supposed to be on duty that morning but he changed shift with another officer at the last minute."

"Does this mean he was involved in the robbery?" Sophie asked not really liking the idea.

"I've downloaded the video feed from the time of the robbery."

He played the images on the screen.

"Stop." Nate pointed out at the screen "Look at this robber. He starts to freak out even before the alarm goes off. Fast forward it to when the police arrive. The time of response is impressive, they were probably nearby. See how his partner keeps out of the line of fire and he shots are miles away from the robbers, but Spade tries to stop the robbers."

Sophie looked away from the screen when officer Spade got shot at and fell on the ground. Nate put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"That poor man. He just had a kid. He had all his life in front of him. Nate, who's behind this most pay."

The mastermind nodded. "Let's start from the partner. Hardison, bring his file up."

"On it. Officer Adam Reese. He looks clean… wait …. Oh, you naughty boy. Look, he has opened a secure bank account in the Cayman Islands. He has deposited pretty big sums in the last year. Look at this deposit the day after the robbery."

"So we've got ourselves a corrupt officer" Nate wondered. He was already thinking of a plan to get the people responsible for Spade's death.

"Nate, what are you thinking?" She recognized that look and it usually met trouble.

"I still have to put plan together but we are definitely going after the bad guys." He smirked.

Suddenly they heard a stomach rumbling.

Nate and Hardison turned their heads towards Sophie who blushed. "Sorry, but we still haven't eaten. I'm hungry"

Nate smiled. "Let's get those pizzas reheated"

Hardison looked guilty "Hmm… about that…."

Sophie glared at him "I can't believe it! Did you eat my pizza?"

"Well, technically you weren't here to eat.. and I'm a growing man… you know all this genius needs its supplements"

"Hardison," Nate warned "I think it's better for you to shut up now"

"Okay, gotcha."

Sophie was still looking at him angrily. He got up and picked up his laptop. "How about I just go for now and wait for Parker and Eliot downstairs. See you later." And he rushed out of the door.

"What now? What are we going to eat? I'm starving." Sophie asked Nate.

"Well, if your stomach can wait another fifteen, twenty minutes you might be lucky" He teased her.

"What do you mean?" she looked at him questioningly.

"You'll be trying my cooking skills twice in one day. That's quite a remarkable achievement"

She smiled. "You know me… always aiming for the impossible"

"Is there anything in particular the lady desires?" He made his way behind the kitchen counter.

"We are still talking about food, right?"

Nate glared at her but with a small smile on his face.

She just shrugged. "Anything is fine really, I'm that hungry that I could eat anything."

"Wow, thank you!" he replied slightly offended.

She quickly correct her words. "No, I didn't mean that you're a bad cook. The pancakes were fantastic this morning. I meant anything you find in the kitchen is fine"

He grinned. "I know, I'm just messing with you."

She lightly slapped him on the chest. "You think you're funny!" She acted indignant.

He caught her wrist in his hand and pinned her against the counter. "I know I am" and he leaned his head down to capture her lips. Sophie freed her hands and brought them behind his head to hold him against her lips.

She gently nipped his bottom lip. "What happened to taking a step at a time?"

"Well, that doesn't necessary mean no kissing" he replied his lips still against hers.

"No, it doesn't" and she kissed him again. Good thing too because his kisses were quite addictive.

"What about a mushroom omelet?" he asked once their lips separated again.

"Sounds delicious. Do you need any help?"

"You could grate the cheese while I start preparing the mushrooms."

And they started working together on preparing their dinner. Once everything was ready, Nate opened a bottle of wine and they sat at the table enjoying their quite meal together.

Sophie smiled. She could definitely see herself doing this every day in future years.


End file.
